Pay-off reel



April 27, 1954 G; I wYNN 2,676,768 PAY-OFF REEL Filed April` 50, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR. G EO RGE WYN N ATTORNEY dri-cal shaft. 8. A vset Ascirevv -9 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 BAY- OFF LREEL Y ,Gem-ge. Wyn...

.eLaMliln St o l'aopolis, Pa., assignor to Jones, @muren-Mien, 1P.ittslmrel.l,l Rae Claim.'

1 invention relates topay-.oi vreels for feedingwire,l rods; or like flexible-material infeoil form to'processing apparatus. It is more particularly concernedwith adjustable pay-.olf reels Whieh accomodate coils of Wire o r ythelike;o vfMseveral different internall diameters.

It is an objectof my invention to providea pay-oir -reel which: may bequickly adjustedrto receive and handleicoils of different4 inter-maldiameters It is another object of Vmy invention to provide a double-deck pay-.offreel which can' be adjusted to. accommodate. coils ofevarious internal; diameters.

It ris .another lobject off my inventionto-Y provide a double-.deck ,payroll l reel with improved means forl transferring a coil :fromthe upper to the lower decla, Other objeetsof my invention will appear in the courseof `the following. de-

scription of my invention.

A present preferred` embodiment,r of my invention is illustra-ted inthe accompanying.- .drawings in which:`

Figure 1 is anY elevation partly in v*section of. a reel.

Figure -2 visa plan viewof :the reeliof` Figure f1.

' Figure 3 -is .a plan viewfpartlylin cross section on :the planeaII-I-zIHoffFigure l. z

Figurefiiis adetail viewin 'crossasection .offia portion: of my. apparatus onzthe planezIV-,plviof Figuresl.

Figure 5 is a detail view in cross section of van.-

'other portion o f: my: apparatusV ony the: plane V 1-V of Figure 1.

Figure 6 isla detail View, in cross vsectionofanotherportionof my apparatus on the Yplane .VI- `VI of :Figures 2 and3.

'I'he vapparatus shown in .thedrawings `includes a stationary.A mounting .designated generally; 3*,1wa lower rotatable'deck assembly.r designated genber 2I.

erallxrk I and-an upper rotatable -deckassembly designated generallyl. l The stationary. mount- Aing 3.-comp1"-jlsesv abase plate providedawitlila collar 'I in ./Whichismounted an upright vcylin- Iholds-shaft Irigidly in collar I.'l

Lower deck assemblyfl includes-a base :memberI I' which may-'be circular inform: andanljlpper -crossl member I2 which may take the form of a spiderA as shown.l Base member II and-upper member I2" are rigidly connected-bylpairs offuprigh-tmembers I3-'I 3a Four suchpairsfareshown in vthe drawings, A'particularly vFigure l3, uniformly disposed at angular intervals of- 909 about-tbe circumference roffacentral circular portion-ofthe V-member 3Ilis xed to upright f scribed.'- This sleeve 4I ijectingf longitudinally.extending key-42- as shown.

base. I I. .but a. greateror smallernumber of such paired*l members I3; may be employed as desired. 'These members i3 define a framework over which a c oil may be placed. A bearing I5 is fixed to A,the underside oefV base II and is disposedabout upright shaftf `so that lower deck assembly I mayrotate aboutshaft 8 andhave its weight carrledby bearing I5. Bearing I5 may be a ball bearing asshown inthe drawing. Cross member .I2 has xed to itby Welding or other means a cylindricalzsleeve I7- surrounding upright shaft 8, and'thissleeve I7 is provided with a bushing I6 which may be brassor otherbearing metal to providean upper bearing -for lower deck assem- ,bly I.

Basernember II. of lower deck/assembly I has weldedtlfiereto vspacer;strips Zllgupon which the coil of rod or Wire may rest. Between each pair ofupright members I3I3, and 'adjacent spacer strip -,2l,fis positioned'a movable upright mem- VEach member ZI slides on base II between. a pair of. upright members I3-I3 so that the reoilcentering framework formed by members I3; may be increased indiameter to center lcoils.offgreater. internal diameters. Each movable upright member! `I is provided `avith holes 22, and one-nf .eachzpair of members I-3 I 3' is provided with pinxmeans designated generally '2d-which exvtendjzhrough member-I3 and into a hole 22 of Amember! I;, solocking member 2 l in position with respect to. member I3; Upright shaft 8, is pro,- vided with a collar 2.6 which is fixed Yto it by set 'screw 2'1 v so .that the lower face of collar 26 just .clears theupright'face .of base member II. This..co1lar 2 6;.holdslower deck assembly I in place-on thestationary mounting 3, and prevents scalesand dirt fromn getting into bearing I5;

Pin zmeansfi'lllv mentioned above are shown in ,more detail yFigure 6. A cylindrical casing member I3 and is provided wtha cap having an aperture in its Hend .through :which .passes a rod 32. The inner endyoffrod..32'-..carries a plug .'33 .dimensioned to t i-n-fhole 2 2: previouslymentioned, and.. provided with. a'shoulder.. Sli-:of greater.V diameter than `hole 212: A coil/spring V35'within.sleeve 30 urgesplug '.33 l outwardly; Plug 33.y may- -be AWithdrawn from .hole 2 2 byv pulling onhandlef of'rod 32..

A'bearing 4.a; `.which again may bea ball bear- .ingasshownfis.' tted- .to upright shaft 8l 'and restson sleeve. .I=1. of lower dec-k. l. A cylindrical sleeve 4.1; is rotatably: mounted. on upright .shaft 8 andfissupported -bybearing .l previouslyy deis provided .with a pro- A collar lili is fixed to sleeve 4| near its upper end and is provided with a projecting handle 45. This collar 44 supports a collar 41 which can rotate with respect to sleeve 4I and collar 44. Collar 41 is shown as formed With four forked or bifurcated projecting members 4B. Each such member 18 is pivotally connected to a projecting arm 55 by a pin 5|. These projecting arms 55 comprise an upper outwardly extending portion 52, an intermediate portion 53 more or less vertical, and a lower outwardly extending portion 54 upon which rests the coil of wire or rod carried by upper deck assembly 2.

A collar 55 is positioned about sleeve 4| at the bottom thereof and is rotatable with respect t ereto. This Collar 55 rests upon bearing 40 previously mentioned. Above this collar 56 is positioned a collar 51 which is identical in construction vvith collar 41 previously described eX- cept that collar 51 is formed with a keyway 58 at one portion of its internal circumference. This keyway B is dimensioned to pass key 42 carried by sleeve I when key 52 and keyway 58 are aligned. Collar 51 can rotate with respect to sleeve 4I if key L12 carried by sleeve 4| is not aligned with keyway 58 of collar 51. When key ft2 is aligned with keyway 58, collar 51 can slide upwardly along sleeve 4I and in this position cannot rotate with respect to sleeve iii. Collar 51 is shown as formed with four forked or bifurcated projecting members 5G. Each of these projecting members 60 is pivotally connected by a pin 52 to a strut assembly designated generally as 5|. The strut assembly 6| is composed of an inner link E5, and an outer link 65. The outer end of link 55, which may be forked, is pivotally connected to arm 5i) by a pin 56. The inner end of link 65 is provided with a longitudinal recess into which the outer end of link t5 may enter or telescope so that the overall length of strut assembly 6| may be varied by varying that portion of link 64 which is telescoped within link 65. The recess of link 65 is dimensioned so that link 54 can move longitudinally only. Pin means |51, which may be similar to pin means 24 previously described, are affixed to link 55, and link 54 is provided with a number of holes 68 which may be engaged by pin means 61 so as to lock link 64 to link 55 in any one of several selected positions.

Upper deck assembly 2 is held on vertical shaft 8 by top plate 1|) attached by screw 1|.

The operation of my pay-off reel will now be described, with reference to the embodiment described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. A coil of Wire, rods, or other flexible material may be loaded from above onto upper deck assembly 2 of my apparatus in the same manner that a coil is loaded onto a conventional pay-olf reel. The upper deck assembly 2 is iirst adjusted to accommodate a coil of the desired internal diameter by adjusting the overall length of strut assembly 6| as has been described. The length of each strut assembly 5I controls the distance that each arm 5G projects outwardly, and so controls the diameter of the coil supporting framework formed by arms 55. Each strut assembly 6| must, of course, be adjusted to the same length. The adjusted strut assemblies are locked in position by pin means 51 described previously. When a coil of wire or rods is in position upon upper deck assembly 2, it is supported by the outwardly extending portion 54 of each arm 55, and the wire or rods may be payed off from the coil so supported, since up- 4 per deck assembly 2 rotates freely on bearing 40 previously described.

Lower deck assembly I may be likewise adjusted to accommodate a coil of the desired internal diameter by moving movable upright members 2| outwardly with respect to fixed upright members I3 as has been previously described, and such movable members 2| may be locked into one of several positions by pin means 24 as has been previously described.

The weight of a coil carried by outwardly extending portions 55 of arms 5i] exerts a force on each arm 5i! tending to move it downwardly and inwardly about pin 5| connecting it with collar 41. The struts 6| transmit such force to the upright shaft 8 through collar 51. The horizontal components of the forces transmitted to this co1- lar by the arms 55 balance, of course, leaving a vertical component which urges collar 51 upwardly. Key 42, however, normally prevents collar 51 from sliding upwardly over sleeve di and since sleeve [l rotates freely about shaft on bearing 40 the whole upper deck assembly 2 normally rotates with sleeve 4 I.

A coil of wire or rods is transferred from upper deck assembly 2 to lower deck assembly by rotating sleeve lll with respect to collar 51 until key d2 of sleeve 4| is aligned with keyway 5B of collar 51. rEhe rotation of sleeve 5I is conveniently accomplished by exerting a force on projecting handle 55. When this key and keyway are aligned, the vertical component of force previously mentioned causes collar 51 to slide upwardly over sleeve 4I, and this movement in turn causes each strut 5| to pivot upwardly in a vertical plane about its connecting pin 56. The horizontal distance between pins 65 and 52 is thus shortened and arms 55 therefore pivot downwardly and inwardly about pins 5|. My upper deck assembly 2 is so dimensioned that when collar 51 is adjacent sleeve i4 the outer tips of outwardly projecting ends 5ft are retracted Within the internal diameter of the coil for which my reel is adjusted. The unsupported coil is thus permitted to drop onto lower deck assembly I where it is supported by spacer elements 25. A coil so positioned on lower deck assembly i may be payed off freely since this lower deck assembly rotates freely about shaft 8 independently of upper deck assembly 2 as has been described. Y

It will be appreciated that upper deck assembly 2 may be independently employed in another way as an adjustable pay-oir reel for wire or rod coils. If this apparatus is so dimensioned that the arms 50 accommodate a coil of a given maximum internal diameter when collar 51 is held in its lower position and accommodate a coil oi a given minimum internal diameter when collar 5l is in its upper position, the reel can be changed from one diameter of coil to the other merely by rotating sleeve d! with respect to collar 51 as has been previously described.

It will also be appreciated that my pay-ofi reel can be used to pay off two coils of wire independently but simultaneously to two diiferent processing apparatuses if desired.

Although the embodiment of my invention herein described and illustrated may be adjusted to accommodate coils of three dinerent internal diameters, those skilled in the art will understand that my invention may be made adjustable to ya greater or smaller number of coil sizes. @ne embodiment of my invention has Vbeen constructed to accommodate coils of 23, 27, and 31 inches internal diameters. This reel will handle 600 pound coils of wire rods.

I claim:

1. A pay-01T reel for coils of flexible material comprising stationary supporting means, a collar rotatably mounted on the supporting means at the upper end thereof, a plurality of arms pivotally connected to the collar and extending outwardly, then downwardly, and then outwardly, struts pvotally connected to the arms bracing them against the supporting means to form a framework over which a coil may be placed and by which such coil may be carried for paying off, and means for adjusting the length of these struts so as to adapt the reel to coils of dierent internal diameters.

2. A pay-off reel for coils of flexible material comprising stationary supporting means, a sleeve rotatably mounted on the supporting means, a first collar rotatably mounted on the sleeve at the upper end thereof, a plurality of arms pivotally connected to the rst collar and extending outwardly, then downwardly, and then loutwardly, struts pivotally connected to the arms adjacent their outwardly extending lower portions and to a second collar rotatably mounted on the sleeverin spaced relation with the flrst collar and slidable over the sleeve, a key elongated parallel to the sleeve and projecting therefrom, a mating keyway in the second collar, and means for causing relative rotary movement between the sleeve and the second collar whereby the key and keyway are brought into alignment and the second collar permitted to slide along the sleeve causing the arms to move downwardly and inwardly about their pivotal connections with the first collar.

3. A pay-off reel as in claim 2 in which the top of the sleeve adjoinsvthe top of the stationary supporting means, the second collar slides upwardly along the sleeve when key and keyway are in alignment, and the means for causing relative rotary movement between the sleeve and the second collar comprise a handle projecting out- Wardly from the sleeve adjacent the upper end thereof.

4. A pay-off reel for coils of exible material comprising stationary supporting means, a lower deck assembly rotatably mounted on the supporting means comprising a base member, a plurality of fixed uprights disposed about the circumference of a central area of the base member, a cross member joining the upper ends of the fixed uprights, a plurality of radial movable upright plates each positioned adjacent a fixed upright and means for adjustably positioning the movable upright plates radially outwardly of the fixed uprights so as to adapt the lower deck assembly to coils of different internal diameters, and an upper deck assembly comprising a collar rotatably mounted on the supporting means at the upper end thereof, a plurality of arms pivotally connected to the collar and extending outwardly, then downwardly, and then outwardly, struts pivotally connected to the arms bracing them against the supporting means to form a framework over which a coil may be placed and by Which such coil may be carried for paying oif, means for adjusting the length of the struts so as to adapt the upper deck assembly to coils of different internal diameters, and means for moving these struts about their pivotal connections to cause the arms to move downwardly and inwardly about their pivotal connections with the collar and drop the coil onto the lower deck assembly.

References Cited in the file of this patent France Apr. 25, 1932 

